


An Unexpected Visitor

by ardentaislinn



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 08:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3283160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardentaislinn/pseuds/ardentaislinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel's protective younger sister pays Peggy a surprise visit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unexpected Visitor

Peggy dragged her weary body and mind through the doors of the Griffith, exhausted after a long day battling evil of both the insidious and overt nature. Her bed was calling its sweet sirens song and Peggy just wanted to collapse into it.

She was so focused on getting upstairs that she failed to notice a small, well-dressed woman waiting for her in the lobby until she was practically on top of her.

"Peggy Carter?"

Peggy's head snapped up in surprise. On closer inspection, the woman was actually little more than a girl - twenty at most. She was clutching her handbag tightly in two fists, and her suit was well-mended, though slightly worn and a little too small.

Curious now, Peggy stopped. "Yes."

The young woman's chin tilted up and a nervous determination entered her eyes. "I need to know your intentions with my brother."

Peggy blinked in surprise, wondering if she was hallucinating in her exhaustion.

"Excuse me?"

"My brother," she repeated. "Daniel, in case you have more than one man on the go."

Peggy raised a single eyebrow at the sudden judgement in the younger woman's tone.

"Do you refer to Daniel Sousa, my colleague?" Peggy asked. She could see Miriam Fry hovering and eavesdropping unsubtly out of the corner of her eye.

"Of course. How many men do you know?" She asked in exasperation.

"Not nearly as many as you are implying," Peggy replied a little sharply. "Who exactly are you to question me?"

"I'm Daniel's sister, Ruth. I want to make sure you have honourable intentions when it comes to my brother." Ruth looked like she didn't believe that to be the case. Peggy examined the younger woman, noting the slight shaking of her limbs and wobble to her lips. Ruth was not as confident as she would like to appear.

"I think there has been some kind of mistake...," Peggy began.

"Don't pull that with me. I'm not stupid. He talks about you all the time. I know what's going on."

Peggy sighed as Ruth's bravado slipped, and her voice lost its control. She took the young woman by the arm and lead her over to the lobby chairs. She considered the woman's words as they sat. _Daniel_ talked about her a great deal? Enough for his sister to be convinced there was something between them? She'd never have imagined it. Though now that she had, the possibility lodged itself in her mind.

"I admire your brother greatly, but I must tell you that we are nothing more than colleagues and friends."

Ruth searched her gaze, judging the veracity of her statement. Clearly she believed Peggy, because she stood quickly.

"I'm so sorry," she began. “I was so sure…”

Peggy stood too and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "It's alright. Your concern for your brother does you credit."

Ruth looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Do you really think so?"

Peggy suddenly felt infinitely old, staring into a face of such naive hope. "Daniel is lucky to have a sister like you."

For a brief moment, Peggy was consumed by an intense longing for her parents, the only family she had ever known, dead and buried these four endless years. The isolation of her existence hit her suddenly and her dissatisfaction with that made itself known. Ruth’s words about Daniel flickered in the back of her mind.

"Make sure you tell _him_ that," Ruth said with a touch of irony, looking over Peggy's shoulder. In that moment, the doors to the Griffith burst open, Daniel following them into the lobby.

"Ruth!" He exclaimed. "What did I say?"

Ruth shuffled her feet, looking like a recalcitrant child. "Don't visit Miss Carter," she muttered sheepishly.

“So what did you do?”

“I visited Miss Carter.” The set of her jaw was mullish.

He stared at her in exasperation before turning to Peggy. His expression softened. “I’m so sorry. When she said she wanted to pay you a visit I thought she was just teasing me. I never dreamed she’d actually do it.”

“You wouldn’t let me meet her,” Ruth burst out.

“I told you not to interfere. Peggy and I are colleagues and I respected her greatly. I don’t need you coming here and making her uncomfortable because you got some ridiculous notion in your head that we are dating.”

Ruth folded her arms and stared sullenly at the floor for a moment. Peggy took a breath, intending to ease the situation but not wanting to interfere in sibling business. Before she could get a word out, Ruth turned to her, eyes flashing.

“Why won’t you date him? Is it the leg?”

Peggy almost laughed at the girl’s bluntness, but she saw the ashen look on Daniel’s face and silenced herself.

“Ruth!” Daniel admonished, clearly mortified.

“Well?” Ruth demanded, not letting it go. Daniel moved forward with his arm outstretched, clearly intending to bodily drag his sister away.

“I never said I _wouldn’t_ date him. Only that I wasn’t.” The words were out of Peggy’s mouth before she thought them through. She felt her cheeks heat as both of the Sousa’s stared at her with shocked expressions. Peggy kept her gaze on Daniel, wondering how he would react to that statement.

For a long moment, he didn’t react at all.Then, his gaze shuttered and he gave her a tight smile that looked to Peggy to be both apologetic and grateful.

“Come on, Ruth. I think you’ve embarrassed all of us enough for one day. Time to go home.”

Peggy felt an unwelcome disappointment settle in her stomach. Squashing it down, she turned to Ruth. “It was lovely to meet you.”

Ruth gave her a considering look. “You, too.”

Daniel chivvied Ruth out the door. He caught it before it closed on him and turned back to Peggy. “I really am sorry for this.”

Peggy smiled. “It’s alright. She’s very charming. And clearly loves you dearly.”

“Thank you for being so understanding.”

“See you tomorrow?”

He gave a short nod and shorter smile before walking away, his free hand holding his sister’s arms. Just before the door swung shut, Peggy heard Ruth’s voice pipe up. “You are going to ask her out, aren’t you?”

The door closed before Peggy could hear his answer. Brushing away an inexplicable feeling of rejection at Daniel’s behaviour, Peggy turned away and resolved not to think about it. She caught sight of Miriam Fry studiously not looking at her.

“Good evening,” she said primly.

Miriam looked up and levelled her with a considering stare. “He seems like a nice young man,” she said eventually.

“He is,” Peggy replied softly, before finally dragging herself upstairs and into bed.

`

The next day, Peggy arrived at the office early, as usual. Daniel was already there when she walked in, a lone soul hunched over his desk, and her stomach flipped when she saw him. She’d spent most of the night wondering and considering what had happened the previous evening, and she still wasn’t sure what to make of it. But seeing him again had confirmed one thing.

If Daniel was amenable, Peggy was interested in exploring the possibilities between them.

He looked up and saw her, his expression turning a little apprehensive. “Hello,” he greeted her. She smiled.

“You and Ruth got home safe last night, I take it?”

Daniel let out an exasperated laugh. “I can’t believe she caught two buses across town to find you. When I realised where she had gone…,” he shook his head, unable to finish.

“She seems lovely.”

“Thank you, that means a lot. Obviously, she is quite a bit younger than me. Our parents weren’t expecting her, and they both died before she was ten. My grandparents and I had to raise her, and I think I allowed her to be a little too willful.”

“Do you really think I would be one to criticise willfulness in a woman?” Peggy asked with a smile.

Daniel grinned. “I guess not.”

“Well, I hope I get to meet her again.” She stood up and made to continue on to her desk.

“Well now that you mention it,” Daniel began. Peggy paused, a shiver of hope and anticipation running through her. “Ruth insisted all the drive home that we invite you to a family dinner this weekend. Only if you want to,” he hurried to add.

“Oh,” said Peggy. “I’d love that.”

She saw the tension rush out of Daniel at her words.

“Ah,” he said, sounding surprised. “Good.” They grinned at each other for a long moment before both coming to their sense.

Peggy shook herself internally and headed to her desk, for the first time in a long while seeing a future that was filled with company and family.

It was a happy thought.

 

 


End file.
